Chuck Cramer

Charles C. "Chuck" Cramer was born on August 11, 1892, in Gardner, Kansas.
He began working in a pharmacy in Gardner in high school and attended the University of Kansas as a pharmacy student. While a pole vaulter at Kansas he sprained his ankle and made his own liniment to treat the injury.

After graduating, in 1912, he returned to Gardner, eventually purchasing a drug store. He continued to work on his liniment and sell it to local teams. In 1918, he formed the Cramer Chemical Company (now Cramer Products) to sell his liniment. In 1929 he was joined by his brother Frank and they expanded the product line.

Chuck would spend a lifetime designing products and promoting the athletic training profession. He also would volunteer as an athletic trainer at many events, including the 1932 Olympics. Chuck was the first Executive Secretary of the National Athletic Trainers' Association and financially supported the organization, which allow it to grow and prosper.

Without a doubt, Chuck Cramer had a monumental impact on the profession of athletic training, whether through promotion using The First Aider, his financial backing or in his many travels to visit athletic trainers. Athletic training would not have had the success it has had without Chuck Cramer's contributions.

For those contributions Chuck Cramer was inducted into the initial class of the NATA Hall of Fame in 1962.